Borscht Recipe

Borscht - Seriously Soupy

I have been meaning to try my hand at borscht for awhile on Soupy but for reason I haven't gotten around to it until this week. I didn't know that much about the soup - except that it was a Russian soup that included beets. When I read more about it, I learned that borscht (or bortsch, borstch, borsh, barszcz, and borshc) is a regional cuisine from Central and Eastern Europe, that depending on the country, can be served hot or cold and whose ingredients vary just as much as how the soup is pronounced. For example, hot borscht (generally from Poland) is made with beets, potatoes, celery, and even bacon while the cold borscht may have tomatoes, cucumbers, and cream. There are also borscht recipes that include meat and mushrooms and those that have cabbage and buttermilk. Since the temps are dropping, I decided to try a hot borscht and based my recipe on ideas and some ingredients from "The Soup Bible" and "Simply Recipes." Sort of a fusion of the two, my borscht was pureed but also had chucks of beets that resulted in a delicious and sweet soup. Since there are so many possibilities, I look forward to trying another type of borscht very soon, until then enjoy!

Beets - the base of borscht soup

Borscht Soup Recipe 
Ingredients:
3 cups of water
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
4 beets, peeled and chopped
10 baby carrots, chopped - or 4 large carrots
1 apple, peeled and chopped - I used gala
1/2 cup of mushrooms, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 teaspoon of red wine vinegar
Handful of fresh dill, chopped
dollop of sour cream
2 teaspoons of thyme
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Celery for the borscht

Mushrooms for the borscht

Red pepper for borscht

Apple for the borscht

Directions:

Peel and chop the beets and the onion and set aside. Chop the red pepper, mushrooms, apple, and carrots and celery. Add 1 cup of water to a pot, along with butter and olive oil and set to a medium heat. When the water starts to boil, add the vegetables and the apple and set to a medium heat for 20 minutes, checking on it periodically. Add the the rest of the water, thyme, lemon juice, and vinegar. Cover and let cook on a low flame for 30 minutes. Drain some of the water (about 75%) and set aside. Remove some chucks of beets and set aside. Add the remaining contents to a blender, along with the rest of the water. If you find that the soup is too thick, add more water. Pour into a bowl and add the beet chunks, along with sour cream and dill for a garnish. Enjoy!


How do you make your borscht?
Seriously Soupy Serena


Borscht Recipe